German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has criticised Israel’s actions in Gaza in one of the harshest public statements by a German official since the outbreak of the war in October 2023.
Merz, a leader of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who became chancellor on May 6, said he "no longer understands" Israel's goals in the Strip during the WDR Europaforum conference in Berlin.
"The Israeli government must not do anything that even its best friends are no longer willing to accept," said Merz. "What the Israeli army is now doing in the Gaza Strip, I frankly no longer understand with what goal.
"To cause such suffering to the civilian population, as has increasingly been the case in recent days, can no longer be justified by the fight against Hamas terrorism," he added.
The comments are particularly pertinent given Germany’s longstanding support for Israel. The doctrine of Staaträson (meaning a state’s reason to exist), which mandates support for Israel’s security, enshrined in its foreign policy.
Merz joins the leaders of France, the UK and Canada, all of which are long-standing allies of Israel, who recently condemned what they called Israel’s "egregious" military actions in Gaza and warned that they would take "concrete actions" if Prime Minister Netanyahu did not change course, particularly regarding humanitarian aid.
At the request of the Netherlands, the European Commission also began reviewing the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which regulates bilateral trade last week, while the UK suspended trade talks with the Jewish state.
Germany will be a key state in the review of the agreement, according to Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, director of the American Jewish Committee’s Europe department and a seasoned observer of EU working processes.
Any change to the agreement would probably require a qualified majority, meaning support of 55% of the member states including those representing 65% of the population of the EU, she told JNS last week.
“It will come down to the big countries: Germany is key, Italy is key,” Rodan-Benzaquen said.
Israel insists that its military campaign is necessary to dismantle Hamas in Gaza and secure the release of the 58 remaining hostages, around 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
Israel says it has killed more than 20,000 terrorists in Gaza. According to disputed figures by the Hamas-run health ministry there, about 50,000 people have died in total in the Strip.
Several lawmakers from the centre-left Social Democratic Party, the party of former chancellor Olaf Scholz and a member of the governing coalition, have criticised Israel in recent days. At least one of its representatives, Isabel Cademartori, called for Germany to impose an arms embargo on Israel.
Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and several other countries have already limited or halted arms shipments to Israel.
On Friday, Netanyahu accused Israel's critics of being on the "wrong side of history" and siding with Hamas.
"When mass murderers, rapists, baby killers and kidnappers thank you, you're on the wrong side of justice, you're on the wrong side of humanity and you're on the wrong side of history," he said, referencing to the joint French, British and Canadian statement.
